Accurate dispensing which is appropriate to requirements of flowable or pourable compositions is of relevance in a large number of fields of application.
Domestically, in particular, the dispensing of flowable substances is gaining in significance, this having its basis primarily in the exact dispensing, controlled according to requirements, of the corresponding active substances, whereby on the one hand the environment is protected by resource conservation and the prevention of incorrect or over-dispensing, while on the other hand the efficiency of the active substances dispensed in this way is optimized.
The dispensing of cleaning and scenting compositions in the toilet area is currently effected primarily by “toilet fresheners”. These comprise single- or multi-chamber containers, which are hung in the toilet bowl in such a way that, during the flushing process of flushing the toilet bowl with water, an active substance is released from the toilet freshener into the toilet bowl.
Such devices are known for example from EP0828902 or DE10113036.
A significant disadvantage of these toilet fresheners is that dispensing depends substantially on the respective local flow conditions in the toilet bowl during the flushing process. However, flow conditions may differ widely as a function of toilet type and the positioning of the toilet freshener in or on the toilet bowl. It may thus happen, for example, that with certain toilet types no active substance is released from the toilet freshener, since no or insufficient water flows over the toilet freshener during the flushing process and the dispensing mechanism of the toilet freshener is thus not initiated.
Also, if flush water flows as intended over a toilet freshener, this is disadvantageous insofar as the water path intended by the toilet manufacturer is disturbed, whereby the flushing performance of a toilet may be noticeably reduced.
Active substances are usually released from such toilet fresheners as a result of penetration of flush water through openings in the toilet freshener, the active substances being partially dissolved and discharged by and swept away from the toilet freshener when the flush water exits through corresponding outlet openings. Depending on how the toilet freshener is arranged in the toilet, the strength of flow through it varies due to the frequently locally very different flow conditions involved in flush water outlet from the toilet bowl rim, whereby only diffuse release of the active substances may be achieved.
Conventionally the flush water stream is influenced, as described above, by the introduction of a toilet freshener. The changed flow conditions may change the flushing behavior of the toilet markedly. Frequently the flush water stream is influenced in such a way that water is splashed upwards out of the toilet bowl, such that flush water escapes from the toilet bowl or may come into contact with the user when the toilet is used, which as a rule is regarded as unpleasant.
Moreover, a purposeful flow path in toilets is designed as an attempt to reduce further the quantities of flush water used while maintaining the same or improved flushing behavior, such that any intervention in the flush water stream in toilets optimized in this way has a far greater effect on flushing behavior.
It would thus be desirable to have a dispenser for releasing active ingredients into a toilet bowl which detects the flushing process without intervening in the flush stream.
Determining the precise dispensing time for an electrically operated toilet freshener is problematic, however. If for example liquid, surfactant-containing toilet cleaning preparation is dispensed too early, the resultant foam is carried away with the flush water stream, such that at the end of the flushing process there is no foam left in the toilet.
As a result, on the one hand the cleaning impression, scent impression and scent intensity are reduced or even prevented completely while on the other hand active substances, such as for example antibacterial or surface-modifying substances, do not remain in the toilet or on the toilet surfaces, such that the action thereof cannot proceed or can proceed only very inadequately.
If, in contrast, the toilet cleaning preparation is delivered into the interior of the toilet only after the flushing process has finished, the preparation does not reach the regions of the toilet over which the flush water usually flows, in particular the toilet trap. The cleaning preparation may also gel on the ceramic surfaces, so that it cannot then be dissolved by the flush water stream or only with difficulty, so meaning that unattractive preparation residues may remain on the toilet surface.
Accordingly, it is desirable to configure an electrically operated toilet freshener in such a way that the dispensing time for a preparation is selected such that sufficient foam remains in the toilet bowl after completion of the flushing process and/or the period of exposure of the toilet bowl to a preparation is sufficiently long for appropriate action to be achieved.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.